Tape applying machines



E. H. SIMMS ET AL TAPE APPLYING MACHINES Sept. 27, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 19, 1951 QMY E. H. SIMMS ET AL* TAPE APPLYING MACHINES Sept. 27, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Oct. 19, 1951 Inventors.

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Sept. 27, 1955 Filed Oct. 19, 1951 E. H. SIMMS ETAL 2,718,648

TAPE APPLYING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inveniors I I I l I I I Fran/c D712 yZor- Ernesi1 25567127713 Unite States Patent Ofiice 2,718,648 Patented Sept. 27, 1955 TAPE APPLYING MACHINES Ernest Harry Simms and Frank Desmond Taylor, Leicester, England, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 19, 1251, Serial No. 252,108

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 10, 1950 1 Claim. (Cl. 1259.5)

This invention relates to tape applying machines and is herein disclosed as embodied in a machine suitable for applying a short length of adhesive reinforcing tape across the seam (known as the back seam) joining a pair of shoe quarters. The machine illustrated herein resembles, in its general organization, the machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,335,267, granted November 30, 1943, upon the application of Harry D. Elliott, which patented machine is adapted to apply reinforcing tape to a flat unitary workpiece rather than to a bulged workpiece of the type above mentioned.

The present invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the same, selected for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claim.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a left side elevation of an illustrative machine embodying the invention, showing the operating instrumentalities in their idle positions;

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the machine showing the operating instrumentalities in their working positions;

Fig. 3 is an angular view of a portion of a workpiece to which the reinforcing tape has been applied by the machine;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an angular view of a tape feeding gripper;

Fig. 6 is an angular view as seen from the rear of a tape cutting and pressing member;

Fig. 7 is an angular view as seen from the front of the tape cutting and pressing member in its relation to a backing member against which the tape and the workpiece are pressed; and

Fig. 8 is a view looking down upon the machine in the direction of the arrow VIII on Fig. 1, with a portion of the frame and the overlying parts removed.

The purpose of the illustrated machine is to apply a short length of reinforcing tape T across a seam S which joins a pair of shoe quarters to form a bulged workpiece W, as shown in Fig. 3. The machine, except as will be hereinafter described, is generally similar to that disclosed in said Letters Patent No. 2,335,267 and comprises a work support 10, tape feeding means including a gripper 12 (Figs. 4, 5 and 8) for moving a predetermined length of tape T (Figs. 4 and 8) beneath the work support into a position wherein it may be applied to the workpiece W, and means 14 for severing the advanced length of tape and for pressing the severed portion T (Figs. 3 and 4) into engagement with the workpiece. The pressing and severing means 14 is raised to lift the tape into pressing engagement with the workpiece through an opening in the work support 10 and to press the tape-reinforced workpiece against a backing member 16 (Figs. 4 and 7) presently to be described.

The work support 10 is provided by a forward and removable portion of a cover 18 of a hollow base casting 20 which houses some of the operative mechanism of the machine.

The strip of tape T comes from a reel (not shown, but similar to that described in said Letters Patent) and from this reel the tape passes under a drag roll 340 (Figs. 4 and 8), thence to the feeding gripper 12, and thence over the pressing and severing member 14.

The feeding gripper 12 has a vertically stationary upper jaw 24 (Fig. 5) and a vertically movable lower jaw 26 which constitutes an end portion of a lever 28 fulcrumed upon a stud 30 carried by a block 32. A horizontal flange 440 extending from the block 32 takes the place of the horizontal plate 44 of the machine disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,335,267 already mentioned, the flange 449 being reciprocated to impart feeding movements to the tape by mechanism similar to that disclosed in said Letters Patent. This mechanism will now be described briefly.

The flange 440 is rigidly secured in a notch formed in a slide bar 442 extending across the machine frame, this bar having end portions slidable in guides formed in the lateral walls of the frame whereby the bar is constrained to transverse movements of advance and retraction of the gripper 12. Such movements are effected by a lever 444 (see also Fig. 8) pivotally connected at its forward end to a pin 446 depending from the bar 442. The lever 444 has a cam roll 445 at its rear end which engages a cam 447 on the shaft 120 designed to rock the lever 444 transversely. Formed in an intermediate portion of the lever 444 is a guide slot 449 which slidingly engages a fulcrum block 448 pivotally mounted for transverse oscillation upon a pin 451 which can be adjusted forward or rearward of the machine to vary the length of feed stroke of the gripper 12. A knurled nut 450 secures the pin 451 in adjusted position.

In the machine disclosed herein, a spring 33 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) having its uper end secured to a pin 34 on the lever 28 and its lower end anchored to the housing 20 tends normally to hold the jaw 26 closed to grip the tape T against the jaw 24. To cause the jaw 26 to be opened a roll idly rotatable upon the pin 34 is engaged by a bracket 38 movable heightwise, as will later be explained, with the tape severing and pressing means 14. The bracket 38 corresponds to the bracket 112 of the machine disclosed in said Letters Patent No. 2,335,267. To avoid sagging of that portion of the tape which extends unsupported beyond the gripper jaws, the jaws, as shown in Fig. 5, are not plane but curved, the work-engaging portion of the jaw 26 being concave and the work-engaging portion of the jaw 24 being complementally convex. The tape, when gripped by these jaws, is therefore not fiat but bowed downwardly, and any tendency of the free end portion to sag or droop is thus minimizezd.

During the return movements of the gripper member 12 the free end of the tape is held against retrograde movement by retaining means comprising a stationary bar 44 (Fig. 4) and a movable clamping plate 46, which bar and clamping plate are, respectively, similar in construction and operation to the members 106 and 108 of the machine disclosed in said Letters Patent. The plate 46 is guided for heightwise movement in the severing and pressing member 14, and is yieldingly held in an upper stopped position by a spring 45.

The tape severing and pressing means 14 comprises a block 50 (Figs. 6 and 7) carried by a forward end portion of an operating arm 52 (Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 8) corresponding to the arm 146 referred to in said Letters Patent, and also an auxiliary block 62 yieldably supported by the block 50. The arm 52 is fulcrumed for heightwise oscillation upon a horizontal spindle 53 journaled in suitable bearings in the machine frame 20, and it terminates rearwardly in a yoke 55 which engages a driving cam 57 on a main shaft 120 later to be referred to. The member 38 already referred to is secured to the arm 52 by screws 56. The block 50 is secured to the arm by a screw 54 in a manner which permits ready detachment of the block 50 together with its auxiliary block 62 and the substitution therefor of another block of different size or shape, or, if desired, a fiat block when the machine is to be used for reinforcing the throat portions of shoe vamps. To insure ready and accurate positioning of the block 50 on the arm 52 there is formed on the arm a tongue 58 (Fig. 2) which is engageable with a groove 60 in the block. Widthwise alinement of the blocks 50 and 62 relative to the backing member 16 is effected by means of a shouldered screw 15.0 engaging a recess in a lug 152 on the arm 52, the screw being threaded into the block 50 and held in adjusted position therein by a setscrew 154.

The tape pressing member, or presser, 14 has a workengaging portion provided, in part, by a portion of the block 50 itself and, in part, by the auxiliary block 62 which fits into a recess in the main block 50 with provision for a limited heightwise movement in said recess. The auxiliary block 62 is guided for heightwise movement relative to the main block 50 by guide pins 66 (Figs. 2 and 4), and is urged upwardly by a compression spring 68 (the end portions of which engage bores in the blocks) to an upper stopped position determined by the engagement of a shoulder on the block 62 with a lip 69 (Fig. 6) on a plate 70, said plate being secured to the front of the block 50 by screws 72 to retain the auxiliary block 62 on the block 50. The upper portions of the main block 50 and the auxiliary block 62 provide work-engaging surfaces which are so shaped as to correspond substantially to the shape of the inside of the heel end portion of a closed upper in the vicinity of the back seam, and to provide a forwardly and rearwardly extending groove 64 for the reception of the back seam of the upper. The auxiliary block 62 provides the work-engaging surface of the tapepressing means at a locality to the right of the back seam receiving groove 64 as shown in Fig. 4. As seen from the front of the machine the work-engaging portion of the tape-pressing means is arched upwardly, and as seen from the side of the machine this work-engaging portion presents a surface 200 (Fig. 2 inclined at an angle of about up from the horizontal and backed off by a downwardly inclined surface 201 which is not engaged by the work piece.

As seen in Fig. 4, a left-hand edge portion of the block 50 provides a shearing member which cooperates with the bar 44 to shear offthe advanced end portion of the tape as the block 50 is raised to press the tape against the work piece. Operative movements are imparted to the block 50 and the feeding gripper 12 by mechanism already described herein and similar to that disclosed in said Letters Patent, such mechanism being driven from the main shaft 120.

The work is supported against the up thrust of the blocks 50 and 62 by the backing member 16 which is in the form of a block of transparent material, preferably an acrylic resin such, for example, as that known by the trade name Perspex. This block is formed to provide a concavity 80 (Fig. 7) having a work-engaging surface which is'substantially complemental in shape to that of the convex portions of the work-engaging faces of the main and auxiliary blocks 50 and 62, without, however, being complemental to the groove 64. The backing member 16, is carried, by a yoke which constitutes the forward portion of a forwardly extending bell crank arm 82 integral with an upstanding arm 84 and fulcrumed upon a transverse pivot stud 86 carried by a bracket 88 secured to the cover 18. A bracket 90 on the yoke portion of the arm 82 carries a spring-pressed detent 94 for retaining the backing member 16 within a pair of grooves in the. yoke, the bracket 90 being secured to the arm by screws 92 extending through slots in the bracket to permit limited forward and rearward adjustment of the backing member 16. The detent 94 engages a recess formed in the backing member 16 and is provided with a head 96 to facilitate removal of the backing member and its replacement by a backing member of different shape, the blocks 50 and 62, as already pointed out, being likewise replaceable. If desired, flat blocks and a flat backing member may be used in place of those shown herein.

The upstanding bell-crank arm 84 is pivotally connected at its upper end to a yoke 97 (Fig. l) which constitutes the forward end portion of one link 93 of a toggle having another link 100, the rearward end of the link 100 being fixed upon a rockshaft 102 journaled in a bracket 104 mounted on the cover 18. Also fixed upon the rockshaft 102 is a forwardly extending arm 106 connected by means of an eccentrically mounted pin 108 to the upper end of a link 110, the lower end of said link being connected to a treadle rod 112 and also to an arm 114 for controlling a clutch 122 through which the main shaft 120 is driven. A tension spring 116 has its upper end anchored to the cover 18 and its lower end secured to the link for normally holding the link in raised position, with the toggle 98, 100 broken upwardly and the backing member 16 raised away from the work support 10 to permit the introduction of a work piece therebeneath. When a treadle (not shown) connected to the treadle rod 112 is depressed, the link 110 is lowered to straighten the toggle and thereby to lower the backing member 16 into an operative position to clamp the work piece W against the work support 10. Such clamping takes place yieldingly by reason of a coil compression spring 118 surrounding a portion of the link 98 and having one end in abutting engagement with a nut 119 adjustably threaded on the link and its other end in abutting engagement with the rearward end of the yoke 97, the link 98 passing freely through an opening in an end of the yoke 97 and being retained therein against the pressure of the spring 118 by a collar 118. Downward movement of the link 110 is limited by the engagement of the arm 106 with a stop 136 on the cover 18, such engagement taking place after the toggle has passed dead center in its straightening movement. The eccentric pin 108 is adjusted to provide for engagement of the clutch only as a result of the final portion of the downward movement of the link 110 after the backing member 16 has been lowered into operating position and the toggle has passed dead center. If the operators fingers are beneath the backing member 16 while he is depressing the treadle he will become aware of this fact before the treadle has been depressed sufficiently to engage the clutch and thereby initiate movement of the power-actuated pressing means, i. e., the blocks 50 and 62.

The clutch 122 is of the single revolution type which automatically disengages after one complete revolution of the shaft even if the treadle is held depressed, it being necessary to release the treadle before the clutch can be reengaged by a subsequent depression thereof. Downward movement of the arm 114 resulting from depression of the treadle is transmitted through a latch 124 to. a block 128 secured upon a clutch-pin controlling plunger 130, the latch 124 being fixed upon a pin 126 which pivots on the arm 114. The final portion of the downward movement of the plunger 130 permits engagement of the clutch in a manner well understood. Upon rotation of the shaft 120, a cam 132 rotatable with the shaft engages a trip arm 134 secured to the pin 126 and rocks the arm 134 and the latch 124 in a direction to release the block 128 from the latch 124. The plunger 130 now rises, under the influence of a spring 135, to insure withdrawal of the clutch pin at the end of one complete revolution of the shaft. Upon release of the treadle, the arm 114 moves upwardly to bring the latch 124 into position for a spring 138 to cause reengagement of the latch with the block 128.

In the illustrated machine the tape-applying instrumentalities are electrically heated and in order to prevent undesirable heating of the feeding gripper ventilation holes are provided in an inspection plate 140 which covers an opening in and constitutes a part of the work support 10. A clearance opening 141 (Fig. 4) in the plate 140 enables the blocks 50 and 62 to rise above the level of the work support in the performance of their upward movement.

To facilitate the threading of a new piece of tape through the gripper, means are provided for opening the gripper jaws to enable a threader in the form of a thin strip of metal to be passed through the open jaws whereupon the end of the tape may be stuck to the threader and the later then moved in the direction of feed through the gripper jaws to thread the tape therethrough. An opening (not shown) in the cover 18 provides access to the gripper jaws for this purpose. The jaw-opening means above mentioned comprises a lever 142 (Fig. 1) fulrcumed between its ends on a bracket 145 depending from an inside wall of the work support 10. A rearwardly extending arm of the lever is yieldingly held down by a spring 146, and on manual depression of the forwardly extending arm (which extends through a slot in the front of the Work support the rearward arm engages the pin 34 and raises it to open the gripper jaws. Guiding of the tape in its passage through the gripper jaws is provided by a front guide wall 153 (Fig. 5) and a rear guide wall formed by an adjacent surface of the block 32.

For the convenience of the operator in positioning the work piece W, a guide line 155 is ruled upon the transparent backing member 16. Furthermore, an edge gage 156 is provided to determine the rearward position of the work piece, this edge gage being adjustably mounted upon the bracket 88 by a winged screw 158.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be observed that the groove 64 does not extend strictly forwardly and rearwardly of the machine but is skewed toward the right as it extends rearwardly. The work-supporting surfaces of the blocks 50 and 62 are symmetrical with respect to this line. The groove and the work-engaging surfaces are skewed in this way because it has been found that, as the pressing member 14 engages the tape and begins to press it up against the work, the tape tends to twist forwardly. By skewing the parts as shown, the tape. when pressed against the work, is made to lie substantially transversely across the seam notwithstanding the tendency of the tape to twist forwardly as it is applied to the work. The guide line 155 is arranged in vertical alinement with the groove 64, as shown in Fig. 7.

The purpose of making the tape-applying member in the form of a main block 50 and an auxiliary block 62, which is spring pressed upwardly with respect to the main block, so that portions of the work-engaging surface of the auxiliary block are normally of an inch higher than the corresponding portions of the main block, is to enable the machine to apply substantially equal pressure to portions of the work at opposite sides of the back seam, even if the thicknesses of the material forming said portions are unequal, the spring which backs the auxiliary block yielding as required when the auxiliary block is pressed into engagement with the work.

In using the illustrated machine the operator places a closed upper, with the grain side up, on the work support 10 with the back seam beneath the backing member 16 in line with the guide line 155. Such presentation and gaging of the bulged workpiece W is facilitated by the fact that the backing member, in its initial position, is well above the level of the work support. He then lowers the backing member 16 my depressing the treadle to clamp the work against the work support and continues depresssion of the treadle to engage the clutch and initiate a power cycle of the machine causing, first, a portion of the tape T to be advanced beneath the back seam, second, the advanced length of tape T to be severed from the remainder as a result of rising movement of the tape severing and applying means, third, the free end of the unsevered portion of the tape to be clamped against back feeding movement during the major portion of the return stroke of the tape feeding gripper, fourth, the tape to be applied across the back seam by the pressing of the tape T and workpiece W between the complementally shaped presser and backing members and, fifth, the return of the parts to their initial positions in readiness for the next operation. The power cycle of the machine is substantially like that of the machine disclosed in said United States Letters Patent No. 2,335,267.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In a machine for applying a reinforcing strip to a shoe part, a work table for supporting a bulged shoe part and having an opening, a presser normally below the opening and movable up through the opening to apply by pressure a reinforcing strip to the shoe part, a member above the work table for sustaining the shoe part against the thrust of the presser, manually operable means for moving the sustaining member from an initial out-of-the-way position above the work table down into a lower operating position, said out-of-the-way position being high enough above the work table to provide clearance for the bulged work piece on the work table to be introduced beneath it, power operated means for moving the presser up through the opening to press an adhesive ly coated reinforcing strip against the shoe part while the shoe part is held down by the sustaining member in its operative position, driving means normally disengaged from the power operated means, and means actuated by said manually operable moving means for coupling the power operated means to the driving means only after the manually movable member has begun its downward movement toward operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

